Why influencer skills are becoming essential for B2B CMOs | With Archana Dhankar of Proofpoint

Most B2B marketing leaders aren't short on expertise — they're short on the confidence and the practised skill to be visible with it, whether that's in the room with their own board or out in public. Archana Dhankar, VP Marketing EMEA at Proofpoint, TEDx speaker and LinkedIn Top Voice, joins Joel Harrison to unpack what it actually takes to build that visibility, internally and externally, and turn it into real influence.

➡️ She breaks down the practical mechanics of building influence: a 2:1 ratio for balancing self-promotion against value-added content, a three-stage framework for knowing when visibility has become influence (likes, saves, and inbound interest), and why trust compounds differently on a public platform than it does inside your own organisation. She's also candid about the cost — the professional accountability, the late nights, the posts that flop despite your best instincts — and closes with practical advice for reluctant leaders and junior marketers on where to start.

What you'll learn

• Why visibility and influence are not the same thing, and how to tell them apart
• The 2:1 ratio Archana uses to keep self-promotion from tipping into ego
• A three-stage framework for measuring whether your content is building real influence
• Why trust compounds differently on social platforms than it does in daily work
• The personal cost of building a public profile – and why consistency, not confidence, is the hard part
• How to start building influence if you're a reluctant leader, or a junior marketer just starting out

Chapters

• 00:01 – Introduction and episode setup
• 02:08 – Archana's journey: two decades in B2B marketing, content roots back to 2008
• 04:20 – Visibility vs. influence: the core distinction
• 06:17 – What prompted Archana to go public, and the “side hustle” advantage
• 09:33 – Three phases of measuring when visibility becomes influence
• 12:51 – Self-promotion vs. ego, and the 2:1 content ratio
• 14:18 – Balancing personal brand with company brand
• 16:47 – Why trust is the foundation of influence
• 18:41 – Winning over skeptical stakeholders: SEMrush and Adobe as B2B influencer examples
• 20:28 – How being an influential leader has shaped Archana's career
• 23:29 – The personal cost: accountability and consistency
• 26:08 – Where to start if you want influence, not just visibility
• 30:19 – Advice for junior marketers
• 31:14 – The one mindset shift that matters most

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archanadhankar/

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